Master carrier with automatically adjustable ring

ABSTRACT

A universal master carrier for a cafe transverse rod wherein an apertured drapery hanger is slidably mounted on a slotted flange portion of the master carrier disposed generally parallel to the trackway of the rod. The drapery hanger is provided with a recess which closely receives the flange portion and has a pair of opposed shoulders to maintain it mounted thereon. The flange portion has a necked down section for assembly of the drapery hanger and the drapery hook is inserted through the aperture of the drapery hanger and the slot of the flange portion to prevent the inadvertent disengagement of the drapery hanger from the master carrier. A reversible and removable overlap arm is also disclosed.

United States Patent MacFarlane et al.

[451 May 30, 1972 MASTER CARRIER WITH AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTABLE RING Walter J. MacFarlane, Kensington; Robert R. Russo, East Haven, both of Conn.

Assignee: The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn. Filed: Oct. 30, 1970 Appl. No.: 85,394

lnventors:

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1970 Johnson ..l60/345 X 11/1967 Salzmann..... 16/87.4 R 1/1968 Rosenbaum 16/87.4 R

Graber et al 16/93 D Freydberg et al 160/345 Primary ExaminerBobby R. Gay Assistant ExaminerPeter A. Aschenbrenner Attorney-Prutzman, Hayes, Kalb & Chilton [57] ABSTRACT A universal master carrier for a cafe transverse rod wherein an apertured drapery hanger is slidably mounted on a slotted flange portion of the master carrier disposed generally parallel to the trackway of the rod. The drapery hanger is provided with a recess which closely receives the flange portion and has a pair of opposed shoulders to maintain it mounted thereon. The flange portion has a necked down section for assembly of the drapery hanger and the drapery hook is inserted through the aperture of the drapery hanger and the slot of the flange portion to prevent the inadvertent disengagement of the drapery hanger from the master carrier. A reversible and removable overlap arm is also disclosed.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDmvso I972 3, 665.550

7/1 INVENTORS W WALTER J. MacFARLANE -51) ROBERT R RUSSO w 7% FIG. 3 BY MM/M/ ATTOR N EYS MASTER CARRIER WITH AUTOMATICALL ADJUSTABLE RING This invention relates to drapery fixtures and particularly to an improved master carrier construction for cafe traverse rods of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,419,065, assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

In drapery traverse rods the master carrier is'normally provided with a longitudinally extending overlap arm which supports an edge of a drapery panel so that when drapery panels are used in pairs the adjacent portions of the panels will overlap when the draperies are closed. Such draperies are normally pleated and the spacing of the pleats will vary, depending upon style and size, from about 3 to inches. The lead end of the overlap arm supports an unpleated edge of the drapery panel and the master carrier is generally of sufficient width so that the hook mounting the first pleat is attached to the master carrier. In drapery rods having exposed rings, it is desirable to have a ring vertically aligned with each pleat of the drape. Where the rings are integral with the individual glide carriers, the pleats will be supported so that each ring will automatically be aligned with the pleat However, the pleat which is attached to the master carrier presents a problem in view of the variable spacing of pleats on different drapes, and an important object of this invention is to provide an improved master slide construction in which a ring glide may be supported by the master carrier and is automatically adjustable when attached to a drapery hook vertically aligned with a drapery pleat.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved master carrier in which the ring glide to be aligned with the first pleat of the drape may be mounted an infinitely variable distance from the lead end of the overlap arm.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved master carrier wherein the ring glide mounted thereon may be readily assembled and disassembled from the master carrier.

A further object of this invention is to provide a universal master carrier having an overlap arm which may be reversibly positioned on the master carrier and a ring glide supported by the master carrier so as to be automatically adjustable longitudinally thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a master carrier in which the drapery glide carried thereon is self-aligning with the drapery pleat supported thereby.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth.

IN THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a front elevation view, partly broken away, of a traverse rod embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a master carrier used in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross section view of the slide portion of a curved ring glide for the master carrier.

In the drawings like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views.

As shown in FIG. 1, a drapery traverse rod 4 of any suitable cross-sectional configuration is shown as being formed of two telescopic sections 6, 8 and having end caps or finials l2 and support brackets 14 for securing the drapery rod to a support such as a wall or window frame, not shown. In the illustrated embodiment, a pair of master carriers 16, 16' are slidably mounted bya slot which is shown as being formed by the rear wall of the rod 4. The master carriers 16, 16' are illustrated and arranged for two-way draw operation as through a traverse mechanism including pull cord 18. In such a two-way draw installation, the pull cord 18 is connected to the master carriers 16 and entrained over pulleys, not shown, adjacent the ends of the rod in such a manner that the cord simultaneously moves the master carriers l6, 16' in relatively opposite directions toward and away from each other upon the manipulation of the cord 18. Auxiliary individual ring glide carriers 20, which may be molded from a suitable plastic such as polystyrene, are provided and are mounted in trackway 10 for supporting intermediate portions of the header of the drapery panel 21 by suitable drapery hooks 22 which are respectively disposed in vertical alignment with the spaced pleats provided in the header of the drapery.

Each of the ring glide carriers 20 is provided with an apertured integral drapery hanger 24 for receiving the drapery hooks 22 and an upper curved ring portion 26 in vertical alignment therewith. In this way, each curved ring portion 26 is automatically vertically aligned with a pleat 28 when a drapery hook engaging the pleat is attached to the ring glide carrier 20.

In general, the master carriers 16, 16' each include a slide body 30, a drapery support member 36, and an elongated overlap arm 38. The master carriers are advantageously so constructed that the same parts can be used, not only for both the overlap and underlap master carriers in a two-way draw installation, but also as single master carriers in one-way draw installations.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the slide body 30 of the master carrier of the illustrative embodiment may be molded from any suitable plastic material, e.g., polystyrene, and is provided with upper and lower grooves 32, 34 for slidably mounting the master carrier on the trackway 10 of the rod. The drapery support member 36 is provided with a forwardly offset flange portion 40 disposed below the trackway and extending generally parallel thereto.

In order to provide a right-hand and a left-hand master carrier utilizing common parts, the overlap arm 38 is shown as being removable from the flange portion 40 of the master carrier and is provided with a lateral offset 44 so that the lead end 46 thereof is laterally spaced from the mounting portion 48 thereof-The mounting portion 48 is partially pierced to provide an integral lateral projection 50 which may be inserted in an aperture 52 of the flange portion 40 of the master carrier. The mounting portion 48 of the overlap arm is also provided with a second aperture 54 shown as being tapped to receive a threaded screw 56 which passes through aperture 58 of the master carrier to fixedly mount the overlap arm in place on the master carrier.

For opposite hand operation as, for example, illustrated at 16 in FIG. 1, the overlap arm is similarly mounted at the right end of the flange portion 40 of the master carrier with the projection 50 engaged in aperture 60 and the screw 56 assembled from the front of the master carrier and passing through the aperture 62. In this manner, the mating ends of a pair of drapery panels in a two-way draw operation may overlap each other without interferencev As indicated, each of the pleats of the drapery panel connected to a glide carrier 20 is positioned in vertical alignment with a ring 26 regardless of the spacing between the pleats which may vary from about 3 inches to 5 inches depending upon the style and size of the drapery panel. It is desirable to have a ring centered above each pleat in the drape including a pleat mounted by the master carrier, and a feature of this in vention is to provide a master carrier design in which this may be automatically accomplished regardless of the variation in the spacing of the pleats.

As shown in FIG. 2, a drapery support member 64, which may be suitably molded from a suitable plastic, e.g., polystyrene, is provided with a curved ring portion 66 identical to the ring portion 26 of the glide carriers 20 and is provided with an integral drapery hanger 68 having an aperture 70 for receiving a drapery hook 22. The mounting portion 68 is provided with a recess 72 sized to closely receive the flange portion 40 with the recess 72 partially closed by a pair of oppositely projecting shoulders 74, 76 to retain the drapery support member 64 on the flange 40.

The flanged portion 40 is shown as being provided with a neck 78 at each end thereof. Neck 78 is of reduced vertical dimension as compared with the remainder of the flange 40 and the shoulders 74, 76 are spaced apart so that the neck 78 may pass therebetween to mount the support member 64 on the master carrier.

When mounted on the flange 40, the support member 64 is axially slidable thereon and the flange portion 40 is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 80 through which a drapery hook 22 is passed to limit the axial movement of the drapery support member 64 so that it cannot become disengaged from the master carrier.

When the drapery panel 21 is mounted, a drapery hook 22' on an unpleated edge portion of the drapery panel is inserted through the aperture 82 at the lead end of the overlap arm 38 and the hook 22 supporting the first pleat is inserted through the aperture 70 of the drapery support member 64 and the slot 80 of the flange portion 40 of the master carrier with the remainder of the hooks 22 being inserted into the apertured drapery hangers 24 of the glide carriers 20. Since the drapery support member 64 is infinitely adjustable longitudinally of the flange portion 40 of the master carrier, the curved ring portion 66 thereof is automatically centered with the end pleat of the drapery panel mounted on the drapery rod 4 irrespective of the variations in the spacing of the pleats on the drapery panel or of the specific point that the drapery hook 22 engages the unpleated edge portion of the header of the drapery panel.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that this invention provides a unique universal master carrier design which automatically accommodates draperies having pleats with different spacing so that a curved ring portion of a drapery hanger is automatically positioned in vertical alignment with each of the pleats of a drapery panel.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications, adaptations and variations of the foregoing specific disclosure can be made without departing from the teachings of the present invention.

We claim:

1. A drapery fixture comprising a rod having a slot extending longitudinally thereof to define a trackway, a master carrier slidably mounted 'in said trackway, said carrier having a flange portion disposed below said trackway and extending generally parallel thereto, an elongated overlap arm having a lead end adapted to extend longitudinally along the rod for supporting one edge of a drapery panel, a drapery support member slidably mounted on said flange portion, said flange portion and said drapery support member having drapery hook receiving openings for receiving a drapery hook to adjustably position said drapery support member along said flange portion.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said flange portion has an elongated slot therein for receiving said drapery hook.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said flange portion is received in a groove defined by shoulders on said drapery support member for slidably supporting the same on said flange portion.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein said flange portion has a neck portion to pass said shoulders to assemble said drapery support member on said flange portion.

5. The device of claim 1 including a plurality of independent glide carriers mounted in said trackway, each of said glide carriers and said drapery support member being provided with an upwardly projecting curved ring portion and an integral drapery hanger adapted to receive drapery hooks spaced at uniform distances apart longitudinally of the rod.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein said overlap arm is removably attached to said master carrier to selectively extend in either longitudinal direction from said flange portion to provide a universal master carrier.

7. The device of claim 6 wherein said master carrier is provided with a pair of apertures adjacent each end thereof for selectively mounting said overlap arm, said overlap arm being provided with a partially pierced integral projection engageable with one of said pair: of ape rtu es. 

1. A drapery fixture comprising a rod having a slot extending longitudinally thereof to define a trackway, a master carrier slidably mounted in said trackway, said carrier having a flange portion disposed below said trackway and extending generally parallel thereto, an elongated overlap arm having a lead end adapted to extend longitudinally along the rod for supporting one edge of a drapery panel, a drapery support member Slidably mounted on said flange portion, said flange portion and said drapery support member having drapery hook receiving openings for receiving a drapery hook to adjustably position said drapery support member along said flange portion.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein said flange portion has an elongated slot therein for receiving said drapery hook.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein said flange portion is received in a groove defined by shoulders on said drapery support member for slidably supporting the same on said flange portion.
 4. The device of claim 3 wherein said flange portion has a neck portion to pass said shoulders to assemble said drapery support member on said flange portion.
 5. The device of claim 1 including a plurality of independent glide carriers mounted in said trackway, each of said glide carriers and said drapery support member being provided with an upwardly projecting curved ring portion and an integral drapery hanger adapted to receive drapery hooks spaced at uniform distances apart longitudinally of the rod.
 6. The device of claim 1 wherein said overlap arm is removably attached to said master carrier to selectively extend in either longitudinal direction from said flange portion to provide a universal master carrier.
 7. The device of claim 6 wherein said master carrier is provided with a pair of apertures adjacent each end thereof for selectively mounting said overlap arm, said overlap arm being provided with a partially pierced integral projection engageable with one of said pairs of apertures. 